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February 20, 2011

Christopher Beam of Slate has written an excellent story about the facts surrounding the last days of John Wheeler and his wife, Katherine Klyce.

The last time Katherine Klyce saw her husband, John Wheeler, she was mad at him. It was the day after Christmas, and she was looking forward to a relaxing few days at home in New York City. "I like the week between Christmas and New Year's because you can lie around and go to the movies," said Klyce. But Wheeler said he had to go to Washington, where he'd held numerous posts in the Reagan and both Bush administrations, and where he currently worked for a defense technology firm. Klyce was upset, but she didn't sense anything wrong. "He seemed just like Jack."

...As the investigation has dragged on, Klyce has become increasingly frustrated with law enforcement. "If you write anything, I hope you write that the cops just made our lives miserable," she said.

Some facts are relatively straightforward: On Dec. 26, Wheeler apparently boarded an Amtrak train from New York to Washington. Two days later, he hopped back on the train to Wilmington, Del., a 20-minute drive from the family's home in nearby New Castle. Then things get hazy.

At 11:30 p.m. the night of Dec. 28, firefighters discovered a smoke bomb in the half-built house across the street from Wheeler's house in New Castle....[L]ocal news organizations have reported that police found Wheeler's cell phone in the new house.

The next morning, Dec. 29, a cabbie picked Wheeler up at the Amtrak station in Wilmington and dropped him off about 12 blocks north. He was then off the radar until 6 p.m.

Wheeler stopped by a pharmacy near New Castle called Happy Harry's at 6 p.m. He asked one of the pharmacists for a ride back to Wilmington. The pharmacist offered to call Wheeler a cab, but Wheeler declined and left.

Sometime later he was at a courthouse in Wilmington, where he told a garage attendant that his brief case had been stolen and he was looking for his car. (His car turned out to be at the Amtrak station three blocks away.)

Dec. 30 Wheeler was wandering around downtown Wilmington. That afternoon, he showed up at the offices of the law firm Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutch, (which specializes in intellectual property law) asking to speak with a partner. When the receptionist returned, Wheeler had left.

Security cameras later caught Wheeler wandering around the Rodney Square area north of where he'd been (in Wilmington), now wearing a sweatshirt and heading toward the city's relatively dangerous East Side.

What happened next is the big question. Wheeler's body was first discovered coming out of a dump truck at the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington by a spotter, there to keep an eye out for hazardous waste. The spotter called the Wilmington police, who then phoned the Newark police, since the truck's route originated in their jurisdiction.

On Jan. 30 Klyce and Wheeler family announced a $25,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of Wheeler's killer. No one has responded.

"I think perhaps no one has been on the reward because they've already been paid," Klyce reportedly told Slate. "Then there's the way Wheeler's body was apparently moved from Wilmington to the dumpster in Newark. 'The way they disposed of his body, it's a miracle anybody ever found it. That just sounds like a pro to me.' Klyce isn't the only one to raise the possibility. Citing Wheeler's involvement in the military and government, Thomas McInerney, a retired Air Force officer, told ABC News: 'A man with that experience, it could have been foul play to get some of the secrets he had.' "